Serum syndecan-1 is related to severity and prognosis of COVID-19 patients: a perspective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION

Syndecan-1 is one of cell surface proteoglycans that mediates the connection between cytoskeleton and interstitial matrix. The previous studies have demonstrated that syndecan-1 exerts an essential role in several pulmonary diseases. However, there are few researches about the relation of serum syndecan-1 with corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

METHODS

All 235 COVID-19 patients were summoned. Serum samples and demographic characteristics were collected. Serum syndecan-1 level was determined by ELISA. The relationships of serum syndecan-1 with severity and prognosis were evaluated in COVID-19 patients through a prospective cohort study.

RESULTS

On admission, serum syndecan-1 level was raised in pace with COVID-19 severity scores. After treatment, serum syndecan-1 was decreased. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses revealed that higher age, coronary heart diseases, other chronic heart diseases, and SpO2 decrease were the risks of syndecan-1 elevation among COVID-19 patients. Moreover, Pearson or Spearman correlative analyses confirmed the positive links between serum syndecan-1 and many characteristics in COVID-19 patients. In addition, mixed linear and logistic regression models found that serum syndecan-1 level was positively correlated to COVID-19 severity scores. Additionally, patients with higher serum syndecan-1 levels on admission had a higher risk of mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, death, and longer hospital stay during hospitalization.

CONCLUSION

The serum syndecan-1 concentration is positively correlated with the severity and poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients. Syndecan-1 is a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19 in the future.